Sequential Reduction-Oxidation Coupling Process for the Sustainable Remediation of Pollutants Containing...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Chemistry
• Catalysis
• Sustainable Engineering

Background:

• Persistent organic pollutants with electron-withdrawing groups (EWGs) challenge current wastewater treatment.
• Conventional advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) and advanced reduction processes (ARPs) show limitations in degrading these pollutants.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the electronic properties of EWGs and recent advances in reduction-oxidation coupling (ROC) technologies.
• To propose a descriptor-driven engineering framework for designing ROC systems.
• To establish benchmarks for industrial scale-up using techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life-cycle assessment (LCA).

Main Methods:

• Systematic evaluation of ROC technologies based on reaction configurations.
• Analysis of synergistic mechanisms and optimization strategies for reaction control.
• Development of a framework integrating TEA and LCA for industrial application.

Main Results:

• ROC effectively overcomes the thermodynamic bottleneck in pollutant degradation.
• Targeted reduction in ROC lowers activation barriers, enabling near-complete mineralization of recalcitrant pollutants.
• The proposed framework guides ROC system design and optimization for water remediation.

Conclusions:

• ROC is a highly promising and sustainable approach for water remediation.
• The redox coupling paradigm can be extended to other environmental and industrial catalytic systems.
• This work provides a roadmap for developing sustainable and carbon-neutral ROC technologies.